Shippiwg-ckate



1'. H. ZEEK.

SHIPPING CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1 1 915.

1 1 93,657. PatentedAug. 8, 1916;

. 2 SHEETSSHEET I. H. ZEEK.

SHIPPING cam.

\ APPLlCATlON FILED MAR-1B, 1 915 I 1,193,657. Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

We? were Rar JAMES HARVEY ZEEK, OF ALBIA, IOWA.

SHIPPING-CRATE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES HARVEY ZEEK, acitizen of the United States, residing at Albia, in the county of Monroeand State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShipping-Crates; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I I

This invention relates to improvements in protected containers and moreparticularly to transparent crates for shipping money and likevaluables. I

I The object of the invention is to provide a crate of this character soconstructed that while the contents thereof areldisplayed to view theyare fully protected against unauthorized access without disclosure ofthe fact.

With this and other objects in View, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement ofparts-as will be more fully described and claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of acrate constructed in accordance with this invention,I

shown closed ready for shipping; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsection thereof; Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 ofFig. 1; Fig. 4. is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 5 is an end elevationthereof; Fig. 6 is an end view showing a slightly different form ofclosure for the cage.

This improved crate comprises a transparent liner or receptacle 1preferably composed of glass and an outer metal cage or jacket 15, whichare correspondingly shaped, the inner member being sufficiently smallerthan the. outer member to adapt it to fit snugly therein as shown inFig.1.

The liner or receptacle 1 is designed for containing and protectingarticles 'to be shipped, such as money, jewelry, valuable papers and thelike, so that while fully and amply protected against injury byextraneous objects, the contents thereof are fully disclosed so thatwhen the crate is committed to a messenger he may see at a glance whatits contents are, and when delivered to a consignee he may instantlytell what said crate contains and whether or not the contents thereofhave been tampered with. As

Specification of-Letters 'Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

Application filed. March 18, 1915. Serial No. 15,254.

' members 3 which are rigidly connected at their ends with the cornersof rectangular end frames 41 and 5,the frame 5 being composed of theL-shaped angle irons and the frame 1 of the inverted U-s haped irons.The

I corner members 3 of the frame are designedto receive glass or othertransparent panels 6 and the closed end of the liner is formed by aglass panel '7 mounted in the end frame member 5. The inverted U- shapedirons of the end frame 4 fit over the end edges of the side panels 6 atone end of the container forming a protecting covering therefor.

Cushioning elements 8 are arranged between the abutting edges of theside panels 6 and between the ends of these side panels and the endpanel 7, said cushioning elements being here shown in the form of rubberstrips, so that when the crate is roughly handled or jarred, breakage ofthese frangible panels will be prevented.

A hinged closure 9 is mounted on the open end of the container 1, and asshown comprises a glass panel 10 with a metal border or frame 11surrounding the edges thereof and which is U-shaped in cross section andis adapted to rest on the end frame member 41. at the open end of thereceptacle. Extending inwardly from the inner face of this closure 9'are flanges 12 shaped to conform to the cross sectional contour of thecontainer 1 and adapted to fit snugly in said container when the closureis closed, said flanges being spaced inwardly a suitable distance fromthe outer edges of the border 11 to provide for their proper location toadapt them to shut within the end of the container 1 and to provideprojecting lips 11? on the outer edges of the border which are designedto rest on the end member 4 of the metal frame of the container wherebythe closure is supported on said frame. These flanges 12 are shownL-shaped in cross section (see Fig. 2), one member of which depends fromthe inner face of the end frame 1 and the other member of which issecured to the lower face of said frame by soldering or otherwise.

The end of the closure opposite the hinged portion thereof is providedon the lip 11 which projects beyond the flange 12 at this end with anaperture or eye 13, and a correspondingly positioned eye 14 is carriedby the frame member 5 at the upper end of the container 1" to receive asealing wire 14 which is passed through these eyes and sealed in theusual manner after the contents to be shipped have been inserted in thecontainer, thereby preventing all possibility of the contents of thecontainer being tampered with without disclosure of this fact, as theseal must be first broken before access to the container can be had orone of the frangible panels bro-ken which would quickly disclose thefact that the contents of the container had been tampered with and thusprovide means for locating the thief or 'transgressor.

The protecting guard or cage 15 in which the container 1 is inclosed ishere shown conforming substantially in shape to the form of thecontainer 1 so that when said container is inserted in said cage it willbe held snugly therein and all shaking or wabbling relative theretoprevented. This cage or outer skeleton jacket 15 as shown is composed oftwo seriesv of substantially U- shaped heavy wires 16 and 17 the crossbars 18 of the wires 16 of one series being spaced laterally apart andintersecting the cross bars 19 of the Wires 17 of the other series toform the closed end or bottom of the cage, and these wires at theirpoints of intersection are rigidly connected by welding or in any othersuitable manner to prevent movement of the wires relatively to eachother after they have once been positioned. The side arms of the wires16 extend forwardly or laterally from the cross bars thereof andconstitute oppositely disposed side members of the cage, while the sidearms 21 of the wires 17 are similarly disposed to form opposite sides ofthe cage which are arranged in planes at right angles to the sidesformed by the arms 20. The free ends of the arms of both sets of wires16 and 17 as shown are provided with eyes 22 through which a connectingwire 23 is threaded and rigidly secured to each of said eyes by weldingor otherwise so that the respective wires are thus held in spacedrelation to each other and collapse of the side members of the cage thusprevented.

The side members formed by the arms 20 and 21 of the wires 16 and 17 arehere shown encircled by a plurality of transversely disposed bands 2%which are spaced longitudinally from each other and rigidly secured attheir points of intersection with the wires by soldering, welding, orotherwise, as

shown at 25, thereby forming a rigid frame composed of longitudinallyand transversely extending members fixedly secured at their points ofintersection. The open end of this cage 15 which is shown bounded by theconnecting wire 23, is designed to permit the insertion in the cage ofthe glass container or liner 1 which is placed therein with the closure9 arranged in. the bottom or closed end of the cage and with its closedpaneled end 7 disposed opposite the open end of the cage. This containeris secured in said cage by a suitable closure shown in the form of metallinks 26 connected at one end to opposite sides of the cage 15, saidlinks being here shown provided at their opposite ends with eyes 27 and28, the eyes at the inner ends thereof being engaged with the connectingwire 23 at points spaced from each other and the eyes 28 at the freeends of said links being adapted to be connected with each other by asealing wire 29 which is passed through these eyes and then'the usualseal 30 applied thereto so that the cage cannot be opened without firstbreaking this seal and thereby disclosing the fact that the cage hasbeen opened.

In the form shown in Fig. 6, the Closure for the open end of the cage isshown in the form of a cover 31 hingedly connected at one end to oneside of the open end of the cage and provided at its free end oppositethe hinge thereof with eyes 32 through which a sealing wire 33 isdesigned to pass and then be passed through eyes'3l formed ontheadjacent end of the cage in an alining position with the'eyes 32.After this wire 33 has been passed through these eyes 32 and 34, theends thereof are connected by a seal 35 in the usual manner.

It is thought that from the above description the operation of thisimproved crate will be obvious without further detailed description.

lVhile this improved crate is shown disposed on one side thereof, it isobvious that it need not be necessarily so disposed but may be reversedin position and stood on one end if found desirable.

I claim as my invention:

1. A container guard or cage comprising intersecting spaced wiresextending longitudinally in opposite directions and bent to form sidesand one end of said cage, said wires being fixedly connected at theirpoints of intersection, bands encircling said longitudinal wiresand'fixedly connected thereto at their points of intersection, the freeends of said longitudinal wires being secured to one of said bands, anda closure hinged to 5 series being spaced from each other and the crossbars of the two series intersecting each other and fixedly connected attheir points of intersection to form the closed end of the cage, theside bars of the two series forming the sides of the cage,longitudinally spaced bands encircling said side bars and fixed theretoat their points of intersection, and a closure for said open cage end.

A container comprising a metal frame composed of angle irons L-shaped incross section, transparent panels mounted in said angle irons to formsides and one end of the container, rubber strips disposed between theabutting edges of said transparent panels, a closure hinged to the openend of said container and having a depending flange spaced inwardly fromthe edges thereof and adapted to shut into the open end of thecontainer, and means for sealing said closure.

4. A container composed of a metal boxlike frame, panels mounted in saidframe to form sides and one end of said container,

a closure hinged at one end to one side of the open end of saidcontainer and comprising a panel having an encircling bordercorresponding in shape and size to the cross sectional contour of thecontainer, a continuous flange extending around the inner face of saidclosure at points spaced from the outer edge of said border, said flangebeing shaped to conform with the cross sec tional contour of thecontainer and adapted to fitsnugly therein with the projecting edges ofthe border resting on the open end of the container.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JAMES HARVEY ZEEK. Witnesses:

PAUL Roscoe VALKER, EARNIE BLACK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

